Disruptive Innovation Festival

Writer Kayla Walsh
@KnWalsh23 Environmental journalist

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September 26, 2014 — The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s first-ever Disruptive Innovation Festival debuts online Oct. 20. Over the course of four weeks, the DIF will provide an online space for entrepreneurs, businesses, thought leaders and learners from around the world to explore how we might shape a circular economy.

DIF aims to challenge our current “cradle-to-grave” mindset and replace it with a closed-loop system that values natural resource conservation. The international event will feature live broadcasts from William McDonough, Ellen MacArthur, Janine Benyus and others. Speakers will address collaborative consumption, new business models, design innovation and more. The DIF will also host a variety of forums and competitions, with English as the main language and facilitation in Spanish, French and Russian.

One focal point for the event will be three global design competitions revolving around the Biomimicry Challenge, Generation Z and Smart Cycles. The Biomimicry Challenge, for example, asks participants to “radically improve an aspect of the food system” by targeting a deficiency in the way our food travels from plow to plate. Entries should harness biomimicry and make the food system more affordable, accessible and efficient. Ideas could revolutionize the way we package food, irrigate crops, harvest produce, rear livestock, distribute food or mitigate waste, all while bring us closer to a circular economy. Entries for the Biomimicry Challenge and Generation Z are due Oct. 22, and entries for Smart Cycles are due Nov. 8. Top innovations will be featured on the DIF website.

To learn more about DIF, grab free tickets, enter a global design competition or join the conversation visit thinkdif.co.

Photo by mattwalker69 (Creative Commons | Flickr).

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